Some workers still spend 60% of their time on ‘work about work’

The hybrid working world is not an easy one. Despite over three years of a Zoom-ing reality, both employers and employees are still adjusting to this new normal.   

Asana’s fourth annual Anatomy of Work Global Index, based on 2,000 employees, has revealed major lapses in the productivity of Britain’s knowledge workers.  

These lapses are connected directly to the transition from in-office to at-home work and have major implications for the economy of Europe as a whole.   

Excessive meetings are a real problem. The average knowledge worker in the UK spends nearly three hours each week in unnecessary meetings. At 50 weeks, that’s 150 working hours per year.   

And this problem is getting worse. 35% of knowledge workers report spending more time on video meetings this year than last year, and 18% report the same for audio calls.  

In fact, the problem is so bad that British knowledge workers are now spending the majority of their time on ‘work about work.’ 60% of knowledge worker time is spent on pointless labor like duplicated work, nonessential meetings, and juggling digital collaboration tools.  

The solution isn’t more collaboration

As with nearly all things, when organizations are looking to increase employee performance and efficiency, they should seek quality rather than quantity in programs and tools.  

The average British company leader now uses ten different apps at work regularly. Knowledge workers average nearly nine.   

And all this app switching does have an effect. 25% of knowledge workers who use 16 or more apps report missing messages and actions due to their app switching. This proportion drops to 15% in workers who use six to 15 apps and just 8% in workers using fewer than six.  

So, the solution is not more apps. And it isn’t more raw productivity. Toxic productivity is yet another modern workplace pitfall to avoid.  

Corporations should seek to align individual objectives with company goals and ensure synergy between company leaders and employees.  

At UK organizations where individual incentives and company objectives are aligned, 79% of employees were more likely to share information and 77% were more likely to keep key players in the loop.   

85% of workers with clear and connected goals believe their business is sufficiently prepared to meet customer expectations.  

Cross-functional collaboration, top-down synergy, and employee incentives are essential to an efficient and sustainable modern workplace.   

Is your company losing productivity? Read this for specific productivity tips that really work.